Mitt Romney’s Desperate Attempt to Spread the Welfare Lie

[thecentristword]

The lies are coming fast and furious from the Romney campaign. It is no wonder his previous opponents have something in common, a deep dislike for him. We are starting to see why. Relentless dishonest negative attacks about made-up issues. Last week it was taking away voting rights from veterans in Ohio (a complete lie). This week it is a lie about welfare reform. Below is an article by the AP about Romney’s baseless charges.

Romney accuses Obama of dismantling welfare reform

By JULIE PACE, Associated Press – Aug 7, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Mitt Romney is making a new push to cast President Barack Obama as a big government liberal, accusing him of dismantling welfare reform, while Democrats renew efforts to paint Romney as a profit-driven businessman.

The Romney campaign released a new television ad Tuesday bashing Obama for removing work requirements from federal welfare regulations, a key element of President Bill Clinton’s 1996 welfare overhaul. The ad contends that Obama simply wants to hand out welfare checks, while Romney would restore the work requirement.

The White House says Obama’s decision last month to change welfare requirements gives states the flexibility they have been asking for to make the program more efficient. Romney was among several Republican governors who signed a letter in 2005 asking for more “waiver authority.” Romney is a former Massachusetts governor.

The Romney campaign sees Obama’s move as an opportunity to argue that the president is a liberal who wants to give the poor a free pass at the expense of the middle class.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that Romney is going on the attack about another issue he supported previously. It seems his complete 180 on all issues is nearly complete.

For the rest of the post -> http://thecentristword.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/red-states-addiction-to-welfare-a-gop-dilema/

[Judi Lynn]

1. Romney: Obama’s bringing welfare back

Tuesday, Aug 7, 2012 09:50 AM CDT
Romney: Obama’s bringing welfare back

The Romney campaign picks up where Gingrich left off, launching a broadside against Obama on welfare reform
By Alex Seitz-Wald

Mitt Romney’s campaign is seizing on a story that’s been percolating on conservative blogs for weeks, rolling out a new attack today against President Obama for “unilaterally dismantling” the bipartisan welfare reform regime signed into law by President Clinton. A new ad from the campaign states: “President Obama quietly announced a plan to gut welfare reform by dropping work requirements. Under Obama’s plan, you wouldn’t have to work and wouldn’t have to train for a job — they just send you your welfare check.”

As has already been widely noted, the line of attack is complicated by a few problems. First of all, it’s not true, or at least wildly misleading. Obama’s plan doesn’t end work requirements, but rather grants waivers to states that propose alternative requirements that suit them better than a one-size-fits-all federal plan, something conservatives usuaslly to support. As the Washington Post’s Ezra Klein wrote last month, when the story first started gaining traction on the right, “The Obama administration is not removing the bill’s work requirements at all. He’s changing them to allow states more flexibility. But the principle that welfare programs must require recipients to move toward employment isn’t going anywhere.”

Secondly, it’s a little tricky to slam Obama for handing out waivers when Romney himself supported the exact same proposal as governor of Massachusetts in 2005. That year, 29 governors, including Romney, signed a letter from the Republican Governors Association asking Congress for broader welfare waivers. Romney’s signature is the second one listed, right under a passage calling for “increased waiver authority” in the welfare program to provide more flexibility in “allowable work activities.” The Romney campaign doesn’t mention this in the ad, nor in a fact sheet distributed today intended to pushback on charges that Romney has changed his position.

It would be fair for the Romney campaign to note that the 2005 letter was addressed to Congress and asked for legislative changes, as opposed to executive action, but Romney isn’t taking issue with the process, but rather the substance of the policy. Arguing that Obama’s changes should go through Congress would be fair, but arguing that Obama is a “big-government liberal” because he wants to give governors, like Romney, more flexibility, is not.

More:
http://www.salon.com/2012/08/07/romney_obamas_bringing_welfare_back/

[thecentristword]

3. very good stuff - thanks!

[alfredo]

2. We need to spread this around.

[RedStateLiberal]

4. Sebelius defends welfare changes

In a letter to two prominent lawmakers, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the waivers states can apply for will not change requirements in the 1996 welfare reform law that mandate recipients find work in order to qualify for help. 

Republicans have argued the new waivers could undercut the work requirements, but Sebelius said they merely allow states to develop new approaches for meeting the work requirements. 
"The department is providing a very limited waiver opportunity for states that develop a plan to measurably increase the number of beneficiaries who find and hold down a job," Sebelius wrote to Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.). 

"Our goal is to accelerate job placement by moving more Americans from welfare to work," Sebelius wrote. "No policy which undercuts that goal or waters down work requirements will be considered or approved." 

http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/other/238883-sebelius-welfare-policy-change-strengthens-work-requirement